Episode 1: Nightmares and Lunascapes

by mr lovecolt

Rarity's Designs

The wooden planks of the platform in Ponyville felt foreign to Edger as he stepped off of the train; the creaking made him think of bones being bent to the point of breaking. It was definitely warmer here, but Edger could already see that the leaves here, too, had been lost to the winds. He sighed and used his magic to remove the scarf from around his neck, and then he turned to the ponies that walked in front of him in the town square. Everyone seemed to be smiling at nopony in particular as they went about their day. Edger heard the train whistle behind him go off, and then he heard the sound of the engine as it began to chuff off to its next destination.

“I’m very tired, so I think I’ll just go home.” Fluttershy said behind him.

A moment later, Edger saw a yellow flash burst above him that headed towards the Everfree Forest. Twilight and Rarity soon joined him on the edge of the platform.

“I promise,” Twilight Sparkle said as they stared off at Fluttershy, “She’s just very shy and sensitive.”

“So are there any sights to see here in Ponyville?” Edger asked, ignoring her comment.

“We do have some lovely parks nearby,” Twilight Sparkle offered, “I don’t think the leaves have fallen from the trees there yet. It’s too bad you weren’t able to come here a week earlier, Edger. You could have witnessed the Running of the Leaves.”

“I’m sure it was a beautiful sight, Miss Sparkle. And as far as attractions go?”

“Well, Ponyville does house my legendary Carousel Boutique.” Rarity added with a smile.

“And then there’s Sugarcube Corner. But you’ll probably want to come with me to the library so you can get a feel of what it looks like before your reading. Did you bring any of your books to sign?”

“I brought a few.”

Edger spoke with a slight weariness, not holding out hope that the ponies here would be too interested in poetry. As he lifted his suitcase, Edger looked around once again as they began to make their way through the town square. An ice blue unicorn with almost matching mane sat on a park bench and strummed a lyre. Occasionally, the mare would stop playing and look at her hooves, sigh with a slight smile, and then return to her playing. A tiny Pegasus hovered over a bird’s nest, trying to take photographs of it. All of these ponies seem so happy, Edger thought.

Suddenly, Edger felt as though he was hit by a wave of magic. The magic tightened around his horn for a moment, but just as quickly as it came, the wave of energy left. Edger quickly looked around to see if any of the other ponies felt it, but nobody had seemed to notice. Not again, Edger thought as he began to reach into his pockets.

“I’m guessing you felt that?” Twilight asked.

“You mean you felt it, too?” Edger asked, “The wave of energy?”

“Yes, but for some reason, only the unicorns can feel it. We’ve just gotten used to it.”

“Shouldn’t that be investigated?” Edger asked.

“We have, and as far as we can tell, the waves of energy are half-lives from the energy that my friends and I expelled when we defeated Nightmare Moon.” Twilight Sparkle began looking up to the sky, as though she were preparing a lecture, “The discovery of one of the long lost Elements of Harmony must have released a very ancient energy pattern. So every now and then, a burst of energy will come from the ancient ruins of Celestia and Luna’s old castle. But after numerous tests, we’ve come to the conclusion that it’s basically harmless, slight headaches notwithstanding, and it doesn’t seem to have any lasting side effects, so after concluding our studies, our only option was to let it be.”

Twilight Sparkle looked down and back to Edger, but frowned when she saw that he had frozen and his eyes shifted back and forth.

“Edger?” She asked.

“Edger, darling, are you all right?” Rarity asked.

“Edger?” Twilight Sparkle repeated herself.

“Yes!” Edger suddenly shouted, looking from side to side, “Why don’t you just show me where I’m going to stay?”

The two mares looked at each other for a moment. Suddenly, a small blue scooter appeared from the side and almost crashed into Edger. Edger leaped into the air and fell to the ground immediately as he covered his face with his hooves. Scootaloo skidded around them and landed inches away from Rarity’s tail.

“Is he all right?” Scootaloo asked.

“I think you just startled him, Scootaloo.” Rarity said, “Why don’t you go on and find Sweetie Belle?”

Scootaloo waved her hoof, laughed, and then took off. Rarity leaned forward and offered her hoof to Edger.

“Edger?”

Edger leaped to the side, took a deep breath, and then shook his head.

“I guess I just wasn’t expecting that wave of energy to hurt my head like that.” Edger laughed. “So shall we go?”

“Well, I was hoping to reorganize the library before the reading, so why don’t you go ahead with Rarity? You’ll be staying with her, after all.”

Edger nodded and they continued on their way through town.

*****

Edger made sure to keep his head as close to the ground as possible as he made his way through Ponyville. As long as he focused on the ground, he wouldn’t be able to see anything that was around him. He had learned of ways to cope with his hallucinations.

Just after the wave of energy had hit him, the sky above had turned to grey, but not from clouds. Edger had looked up and saw smoke hovering above him. The shadows of the buildings wavered in front of him, and Edger thought he saw hooves emerge from the shadows. In front of him stood two ponies, but just as he had seen in the lavatory on the train, these ponies had no faces, nor manes, nor tails, nor even fur. They stood there for a moment, and Edger had wondered how they could see he was there if they had no eyes. As though an answer to his thought, black holes appeared where eyes should have been. Hallucination, Edger thought, another one. Edger took a deep breath. He knew that he was speaking to Twilight Sparkle and Rarity a moment ago, these two images - one with a horn and one with both horn and wings - in front of him had to be them. Pretend to be okay, Edger reassured himself. He focused his eyes in front of him to the white ponies, and he could begin to make out small whispers.

Edger… Edger… are you… Edger…

Edger took a moment to think. He knew he must have looked strange at the moment. They probably asked me if I was all right, he thought. Before he could answer, the sound of claws scratching windows ripped through the air. Tiny creatures that looked almost like foals beat at the windows with pointed teeth.

“Yes,” Edger shouted as he tried to will the images and sounds around him to go away, “Why don’t you just show me where I’m going to stay?”

The two white ponies in front of Edger tilted their heads back and forth, as though they were considering what Edger had just said. You know that they are Twilight and Rarity, Edger thought, the white ponies are fake… the white ponies are fake… Suddenly, one of the bat-like creatures appeared at his side. Edger watched for a moment as its teeth opened and pointed at him. The angles of the teeth bent outward towards him like daggers. The small bat creature turned around and came to a stop near one of the white ponies. The three of them chattered back and forth as Edger thrust his hooves over his eyes. Not real… not real…

Him… go find… Edger…

The sound of laughter filled the air. Edger opened his eyes to see a small, orange philly with a pink mane wave at him and then take off on a scooter. Edger looked over to Rarity and Twilight Sparkle, only to see them looking back and forth with concerned looks on their faces.

“I guess I just wasn’t expecting that wave of energy to hurt my head like that.” He said with a small laugh. “So shall we go?”

Edger began to walk forward a few steps.

“Well,” Twilight Sparkle began, “I was hoping to reorganize the library before the reading, so why don’t you go ahead with Rarity? You’ll be staying with her, after all.”

Edger nodded, and he made his way next to his purple-maned companion. The two of them waved Twilight Sparkle off as she headed in the opposite direction. Edger and Rarity stood for a moment at the town square. The wind slowly wound around them, but unlike the cool wind of Manehatten, this wind was much more comfortable. For a moment, Edger managed to forget about the vision he had just had as he and Rarity took a few steps towards the boutique. Edger hadn’t paid attention, because as he turned, he suddenly found himself with his face in the neck of another stallion. Edger stumbled back a step and shook his head.

“Oh I’m sorry.” A deep voice said.

Edger looked up and his eyes widened. A pair of icy blue eyes stared back at him. The stallion was at least three hooves taller than he was, with a tan-colored coat and brown fur. The size, the eyes, even the hairstyle, this has to be another hallucination, Edger thought, instinctively reaching into his pocket for his pills. This is too much, Edger thought as he began to pull out the pills.

“Oh, Caramel, you clumsy lug,” Rarity said playfully, “You nearly trampled our dear Edger to death.”

“Wait, you see him, too?” Edger asked.

“Well, of course I do, dear.” Rarity replied as she raised an eyebrow.

“I’m sorry,” Edger said as he turned to the tan stallion named Caramel, “It’s just that when I saw you, I thought I was having visions.”

Edger had answered honestly, but when he saw one of Caramel’s eyebrows raise, and then Rarity’s other eyebrow raise as she looked at the two of them, Edger knew he had to think of something.

“No!” Edger yelled, “I didn’t mean it like that, I just…”

Edger scuffled his hooves on the ground and brushed up against a book. The book was blue, and it had very familiar scroll to it. He looked back at Caramel, who reached down to pick up the book.

“Edger… As in Edger Poeny? Are you serious?” Caramel asked.

Edger took a deep breath. Another fan, Edger thought, I can deal with this.

“Yes,” Edger smiled, “And if I may ask, are you enjoying my work?”

“Dude, I just finished ‘The Offering’ and it is completely twisted. Do you realize how hard it is to find stories like this?”

“So you like it because it’s twisted?”

“hmm, hmm.”

Edger and Caramel turned to Rarity, who had coughed as delicately as possible to get their attention. Edger began to feel very uncomfortable about the way Rarity was staring at the two of them.

“Caramel, if you don’t mind, we were just heading back to my boutique to get Edger some more suitable attire for the reading that he is going to give at the Ponyville Library on Tuesday. Would you be so kind as to accompany us so that we can arrive at my home in a timely manner?”

“Of course,” Caramel said, “That is, if Mr. Poeny doesn’t mind.”

“I’m quite sure that I’m younger than you, Caramel,” Edger replied, “You can call me Edger. I’m not famous or anything.”

“Dude, a lot of the guys in Ponyville like your work, Edger.” Caramel replied.

“I’m sorry about back there,” Edger said, abruptly changing the subject, “You just remind me of a character that you recently read about in my story.”

“Oh?” Caramel asked.

“Yes.” Edger replied, “Obviously, as a writer I take certain characteristics from ponies around me, but to be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever met a pony that matches so many of the characters that I’ve written of. You remind me so much of Forge.”

“You know, I also do iron forging.”

“Of course you do.” Edger replied as he shook his head.

“But usually I like to help out at Sugar Cube Corner with Pinkie. I’m really good at caramelizing.”

“As it should, as your name would suggest.” Edger said, “Wait… Pinkie Pie is another of the Elements of Harmony, correct? I would very much like to meet her, along with Rainbow Dash and Applejack, if possible.”

“Oh darling, I’m sure that could be arranged.” Rarity said, “Why, I wouldn’t be surprised if Pinkie hasn’t already discovered about your coming and is hard at work on a party for you.”

By this time, the three ponies had made it to a large, three-tiered building that lie somewhere in between the town square and the marketplace. Edger looked at one of the windows, only to see the image of a white cat with a purple bow that stared at him for a moment before a smile slowly crept up its face. Before he could point it out to Rarity, the cat jumped off from the windowsill.

“Caramel, why don’t you run along, now?” Rarity said as she pushed her hooves onto Caramel’s chest. “I want to surprise Ponyville when Edger comes out in his new outfit. And then who knows, maybe we’ll all be out and about this evening. I’m sure you’ll want to make yourself presentable if you want to discuss Edger’s book with him, won’t you?”

Edger took a moment to raise a hoof between his eyes. He sighed as Caramel raised an eyebrow yet again and then turned away as he shook his head. Rarity opened the door to Carousel Boutique and filed her suitcases into the main room. Edger entered behind the floating luggage and looked around the circular room. Mirrors lined one of the walls, and the way they angled made them almost reflect one another, and images of himself and Rarity appeared throughout the room. The ponnequins were turned so that their heads all faced towards the entrance, and Edger had to catch his breath for a moment as he found himself face to face with numerous white, blank-faced ponies.

“When I saw you, I thought I was having visions?” Rarity asked.

Edger turned to Rarity, whose face had turned a deep shade of red.

“Oh don’t worry, Edger,” Rarity continued, “It was really adorable.”

“I honestly didn’t mean it like that.” Edger explained, “It’s… more complicated than that. He just reminded me a lot of one of my characters. It was just strange to see such a similarity, that’s all.”

“Well,” Rarity said, “Where shall we begin?”

“If you don’t mind, Rarity, I would like to freshen up a bit.” Edger said, “I know my measurements, if that’s what you’re after. I’ve just been travelling a lot and I would prefer a bath or even just a shower right now. Just please don’t try anything too revealing. I’m a writer, not Sapphire Shores.”

“Oh, of course, dear,” Rarity replied, missing the unsaid implication, “I wouldn’t dream of having a guest feel unclean while in my home. Please, make yourself comfortable and help yourself to whatever supplies I have. I’m sure you will find the same level of fur maintenance supplies as you would in Manehatten. The shower room is up the stairs.”

Edger nodded and made his way up the stairs, but he noticed a white cat following him. Edger figured it was the same cat that sat at the windowsill when he arrived. He stopped and turned, only to watch the cat stare at him, lift its claws, and swipe at the air in front of him. The cat inched closer, and its claws came closer to Edger’s leg.

“Opalescence!” Rarity called from below, “Stop bothering our guest.”

Edger watched as the cat turned down toward the sound, and then back to him. The cat smiled, and then made its way back down the stairs. Edger backed away and made his way to the shower room and closed the door. He immediately took out his flask and his bottle of pills as he trembled on the floor.

“If only it had been a hallucination.” Edger said as he lifted the open bottle to his mouth along with the flask. “I’ll need to speak to Script about getting stronger medications if this keeps up.”

*****

Rarity spun a ponnequin around and danced with it as she wrapped its hind legs with bits of black fabric. She laughed to herself as the design became clear in her mind.

“Oh, Caramel,” Rarity said as she pretended to mimic Edger’s higher voice, “I just don’t know how I should think about how to feel about you, is all.”

“Edger,” Rarity replied to herself as she impersonated Caramel and brought another ponnequin next to the other one, “Don’t think, just feel.”

Rarity giggled uncontrollably and danced in circles as ribbon after ribbon of fabric wound its way across the room and wrapped around the Edger ponnequin, wrapping around its body tighter and tighter, choking it until a pair of tight black pants with a black vest and matching fedora appeared out of a burst of fabric and aural light. She sat on a small chaise lounge with her head on her hooves and admired her work.

“Oh Twilight,” Rarity said, “I don’t have to worry about finding a big lug for Edger. The big idiot lug found him all on his own.”

Author's Note:

I think the level of disturbances is slowly increasing. I hope that we get a sense of unease with the interactions between the ponies. That's how 'slow burn' works, if I understand it correctly. But we'll see.

Comments

[Jordan179]

Yeah, Rarity, I don't think he'll like those pants ...

[dreamingnoctis]

Rarity playing with the ponnequins like dolls is adorable.

The chance meeting with caramel was cute as well. Looks like his reputation preceeds him!